South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham believes one of the biggest flaws with President Barack Obama’s foreign policy lies in the fact that he has deviated from the “peace through strength” model championed by former President Ronald Reagan.

Speaking to Newsmax TV at CPAC 2013, Graham said his main message to CPAC attendees was that the Obama administration is following a “terrible” foreign policy model.

“My message is our national security is deteriorating as I speak, and sequestration is a bad idea when it comes to the military,” Graham said. “But the Iranian nuclear threat keeps me up at night more than anything else, and the Obama administration’s leading from behind is putting Israel and our nation at risk.”

As Obama prepares to meet with Senate Republicans Thursday, Graham hopes one of his major themes is a willingness to tackle entitlements.

“He’s yet to offer a plan that really addresses the fact that we’re deeply in debt because of unsustainable entitlements and his goal is not to balance the budget says a lot,” Graham said. “My goal is to reform entitlements, have the biggest spending cut in American history, and for that I’m willing to flatten the tax code.”